civilwarwikiaorg-20200214-history
Memphis Battery Light Artillery (African Descent)
The Memphis Battery Light Artillery (African Descent) was an artillery battery that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The unit was also called 1st Tennessee Battery (African Descent). Service The Memphis Battery Light Artillery (African Descent) was organized at Memphis, Tennessee and mustered in for three years on October 31, 1863 under the command of Captain Carl A. Lamberg. As was custom at the time, the battery was designated the Memphis Battery (Colored) Light Artillery. It was initially attached to the 1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery Regiment (African Descent) as Battery M. The battery was attached to the garrison of Fort Pickering, District of Memphis, 5th Division, XVI Corps, Department of the Tennessee, to January 1864. 1st Colored Brigade, District of Memphis, Tennessee, XVI Corps, to April 1864. The Memphis Battery Light Artillery (African Descent) ceased to exist on March 11, 1864 when its designation was changed to Battery D, 2nd United States Light Artillery Regiment (Colored). This designation was changed again on April 26, 1864 to Battery F, 2nd United States Colored Light Artillery. Detailed service During its brief existence, the regiment performed post and garrison duty at Memphis, Tennessee, until April 1864. One section under the command of Lieutenant A. M. Hunter was sent to Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on February 15, 1864. Nearly every man in this detachment was killed when Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest captured the fort on April 12, 1864 and Union troops were subsequently massacred. In his report of April 27, 1864, Captain Lamberg stated that the section had one officer and 34 enlisted men. Of these, six were killed, four wounded, five taken prisoner, and Lieutenant Hunter and 18 other men were listed as missing in action. Private John Kennedy, who was wounded and captured (but escaped to report to Captain Lamberg), stated that he saw Lieutenant Hunter and several men of the section in the Mississippi River, but that he was captured before seeing what became of them. Captain Lamberg commanded one section in June 1864 under Brig. Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis on his expedition into Mississippi. The expedition ended in defeat Maj. Gen. Forrest at the battle of Brice's Cross Roads. The section was attached to the brigade of Colonel W. L. McMillen and consisted of two officers and 37 enlisted men. The section's guns were spiked and abandoned on the field. Casualties Records are incomplete, but the battery lost at least 6 men killed or mortally wounded during service. Commanders * Captain Carl A. Lamberg * Captain Francis N. Marion See also * List of Tennessee Civil War units * Tennessee in the Civil War References * Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908. ;Attribution * External links * Brief unit history, including officers' names, regimental strengths, etc. Category:Military units and formations established in 1863 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1864 Category:Tennessee Union Army regiments Memphis Light Artillery, 001